Canadian Blood Services Waterloo clinic urgently needs donors

The Canadian Blood Services clinic on Bridgeport Road in Waterloo has temporarily extended its hours hoping donors will help fill the urgent need.

Gina Leyva, territory manager for Canadian Blood Services in Kitchener-Waterloo, saidthere is an immediate need for blood since elective surgery procedures resumed at Ontario hospitals.

"There is a huge shortage as people are not booking appointments to donate as much." said Leyva. "We're also seeing a lot of folks booking appointments and then not attending or cancelling at the last minute."

Leyva said the clinic has 450 appointments availablebetween now and Labour Day Monday. There are 100 just for Labour Day weekend.

Nationally, 40,000 more units are needed before Labour Day weekend, Leyva said.

'A really scary situation'

Blood donations are usually down during the summer months but Leyva saidwithout them, patients could lose the chance to have life-saving operations.

"There are a lot of emergencies that happen in [the] summer," said Leyva. "Car accidents where people could require up to 50 units of blood for one accident. So imagine if the blood wasn't there for that patient who needed it.That would definitely be a really scary situation."

All Canadian Blood Service clinics follow strict COVID-19 protocols which means masks are required, a wellness screening happens every time anyone enters their location.

If you want to donate, visit the Canadian Blood Services website and put in your postal code.

That will bring up the nearest clinic to you.